CANADA FX DEBT-C$ at 5-year low on cheap oil, U.S. retail data

* Canadian dollar at C$1.1533 or 86.71 U.S. cents
* Bond prices lower across the maturity curve
TORONTO, Dec 11 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar weakened
against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, weighed down by
weakness in the price of crude oil and by healthy U.S. retail
sales which boosted the greenback.
Oil fell towards $64 a barrel, within sight of a five-year
low, pressured by signs that already ample supply will be even
more plentiful in 2015.
Meanwhile, U.S. consumer spending advanced at a brisk clip
in November as lower gasoline prices gave the holiday shopping
season a boost, offering the latest sign of underlying momentum
in the U.S. economy.
"The (U.S.) dollar is healthy, firmer on the decent retail
sales data which looks like it's adding up to a solid consumer
performance in Q4," said Adam Cole, global head of foreign
exchange strategy at Royal Bank of Canada. "And then Canada is
being hit specifically on the weakness in oil prices again."
The Canadian dollar was at C$1.1533 to the
greenback, or 86.71 U.S. cents, weaker than Wednesday's close of
C$1.1480, or 87.11 U.S. cents. That is its weakest level since
July 2009.
RBC's Cole said the outlook for the Canadian currency would
only get worse if crude continues its slide.
"With crude prices at fairly critical levels for the
viability for a lot of the production in Canada, if anything the
sensitivity to crude prices increases the more prices fall," he
said. "The lower it goes, the more it matters for Canada and the
Canadian currency."
Canadian government bond prices were lower across the
maturity curve, with the two-year down 1.5 Canadian
cents to yield 1.005 percent and the benchmark 10-year
down 15 Canadian cents to yield 1.847 percent.
(Reporting by Alastair Sharp; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)